Tuesday evening, volunteers gathered to prepare grocery boxes to be distributed Saturday at the Covelli Centre, where CIRV (Community Initiative to Reduce Violence) Youngstown and NOW Youngstown, in partnership with Dare to Dream, are hosting “Fighting Together.”

The event, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., aims to fight the drug epidemic by providing support to local families. In addition to featuring music and games, “Fighting Together” will connect families to social-service organizations in the area.

The first 1,500 families who register for the event at the Covelli Centre will receive the grocery boxes that were assembled Tuesday.

Saturday’s festivities will mark the sixth year for the event and the first year that its sponsors will be distributing food. The decision to do so is in direct response to an Aug. 2 report released by the Food Resources & Action Center, which identifies the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area as the second-highest food insecure area in the nation.